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Jakarta Post

From concerts to charity, unicorns seek to attract buyers

To attract buyers during Ramadan, the biggest shopping season of the year, major online marketplaces are not only offering big discounts and free delivery, they are also giving to charity and throwing big concerts

Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, May 18, 2019

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From concerts to charity, unicorns seek to attract buyers

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span>To attract buyers during Ramadan, the biggest shopping season of the year, major online marketplaces are not only offering big discounts and free delivery, they are also giving to charity and throwing big concerts.

E-marketplace Tokopedia is offering big discounts on a wide range of products, as well as free delivery and even raffles for umrah (minor haj) travel packages throughout the fasting month.

Like last year, Tokopedia also staged a big concert on Thursday evening at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, featuring famous pop singers such as Raisa, Judika, Atta Halilintar and Sheila On 7 to promote sales during Ramadan.

Last year, the company also threw a big concert at the stadium, which featured some of Indonesia’s most popular singers and was broadcast live on several TV channels.

“People’s enthusiasm for last year’s concert provided valuable experience and motivated us to provide an even better experience for this year’s concert ,” the company’s vice president of merchants, Inna Chandika, said
in Jakarta on Friday.

Ramadan e-commerce sales could climb as much as 105 percent higher than regular days according to French advertising agency Criteo. Sales via mobile sites have increased the most, up 69 percent, followed by desktop computers, up 53 percent, and mobile apps, 41 percent.

Lazada, a rival e-marketplace based in Singapore, recently threw its own big concert in Jakarta to raise awareness of its sale promotions. In particular, it sought to raise awareness of its two-day flash sale that ended on Friday, which offered discounts of up to 99 percent.

However, the company is still offering other promotions such as free shipping for customers in eastern Indonesia with purchases above Rp 120,000 (US$8.28) and discounts of up to 50 percent for decorative household items such as bed covers and carpets.

“Ramadan will always be a highlight for brands and sellers under Lazada Indonesia because it promises healthy sales performances,” said chief marketing officer Monika Rudijono, “Thus, we hope our promotions boost business for our brands and sellers.”

Unlike these two e-marketplaces, homegrown unicorn Go-Jek has chosen a more low-key approach to push its #CariKebaikan (Look for Good) promotion campaign, focusing on email blasts and other digital channels.

Go-Jek’s campaign slogan is a pun. It refers to finding “good deals” from the company’s various verticals such as Go-Pay e-wallet, which offers cashbacks of up to Rp 20,000, and Go-Deals coupon market, which offers discounts of up to 99 percent for certain products from certain retailers.

But the slogan also refers to “doing good”. This could be by donating to charity via the e-wallet or by ordering a Go-Food delivery from merchants marked #TraktirDriver (treat drivers) on the company’s app. Such merchants provide food for Go-Jek drivers that come to pick up orders.

“Go-Food’s business is built around three pillars: merchants, customers and drivers. We don’t only want to empower merchants in our ecosystem but all three pillars,” said Go-Food vice president for marketing Aristo Kristandyo.

In a similar nod to Ramadan goodwill, Lazada said it would donate Rp 1,000 to charity from every Rp 100,000 transacted on the platform during its two-day flash sale period.

Meanwhile, Traveloka, a homegrown online travel agent, is offering sales on flight tickets in time for the exodus of Idul Fitri travelers. Such travelers number in the millions, whether they are going to pulang kampung (return to hometown) or going on vacation, thus providing a lucrative market for the unicorn.

For example, the company is offering a discount of Rp 400,000 for flights purchased on weekends using a Bank Mandiri credit card. It is also offering a discount of Rp 100,000 for flights purchased on Thursdays using a BNI credit card. The former promotion ends in June while the latter ends in May.

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